Project Explore kicked off the summer with a 4-day camp, “Exploring & Conquering New Horizons: Maintaining Resiliency in Times of Uncertainty.” The purpose of the camp was to celebrate students and their families who have remained resilient through this difficult school year.
Project Explore connects HISD middle school students to high-impact college and career opportunities through a series of workshops and programming. For students like Brenden Hall from Thomas Middle School, it’s a path forward to success.
“I was happy to attend the Project Explore Summer camp because it was very educational,” Hall said. “A couple of my favorite sessions were the current events workshop where we learned how to tell the difference between real and fake news and the workshop that gave us tips on finding a job. I believe that I am more prepared for my future.”
Students participated in sessions that focused on continuing their success into the new school year. The Kickoff Event allowed students the time to discuss ways in which they successfully made it through the school year. Project Explore alumni also shared their journeys of resilience now as high school students.
The College Power Hour happened all four days, with representatives from various colleges and universities sharing information about their campuses with students. Information ranged from student life and campus living to scholarships and admissions. Some of the colleges that presented were University of Houston, University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Rice, Texas Southern University, and Prairie View A&M University.
In another session, students and parents learned about resources that are available in HISD as well as throughout the community. Family & Community Engagement, Wraparound Services, Nutritional Services, Social & Emotional Learning, YMCA, Houston Food Bank and Texas OnCourse were some of the partners that presented.
High School 101 was a session led by Project Explore alumni and provided a space for interactive discussion on what students can expect in high school.
And the Current Events workshop had students participating in a session that tackled how to decipher whether information they are hearing is accurate and truthful. Journalists and reporters were on hand to discuss ways to distinguish facts from fiction when it comes to news reporting.
For more information and resources for parents and students, please visit HoustonISD.org/ProjectExplore.